Max Brun describes what Benchmark looks for in founders: being a learning animal with constant curiosity, vulnerability, and obsession. Successful founders cold DM people, read widely, and stay hungry to learn from others. Those who stop learning are the ones whose companies get stuck.
Chapters
Are there maybe any traits that you see with some of the best kind of founders that you also look for as well? Absolutely.
The biggest thing, and it's not even close, is being a learning animal. You know, like, it's not even close, you guys. Like, you have to have, you know, to— and like, I feel like learning animal is the prerequisite or is often a, positive externality of ambition, but like, you know, obsession. But like, if you're a learning animal, like, we just had dinner last night with a founder, I won't say who it is, and oh my God, that guy was a learning animal. Like, from a young age, he was just, you know, reading everything he could, cold DMing people on Twitter or like whatever it is to like learn from them. You know, constantly soaking up as much information as he can from the people around him to build the best company that he can build and be the best CEO he can build be. And like, you know, the the job of a CEO is so. I'm a New Yorker. It's so fucking hard. Like, you know, the job just you know it's never done. It's relentless. And, you know, and if you're not willing to be vulnerable, and like to be a learning animal, you have to be willing to be vulnerable, right? Because if you're not willing to be vulnerable, you won't admit to yourself you don't know something, and then you won't try to learn it. But like, if you are able to be vulnerable, you, you put yourself in the mindset of being able to learn, being able to learn from other people. Surrounding you with the best people you possibly can do. And that is the difference I've seen from the founders who do go the distance versus the ones that get stuck. And when they get stuck, their companies get stuck too.
